Mocha Friday

February 20, 2026 by Adam in Family

Emma brought home a giant bag of the chocolate Euphoria uses - it was considered expired or stale or something.  I added some to my mocha for the first time today and it's absolutely delicious.  There's barely any sugar, so it's very savory and extremely chocolately.  It's certainly perking up my day.

I hit some work milestones this week, finally checking in the code for a couple big projects.  It's a day of learning, so I'm hoping to play around with some new AI tools I've been wanting to play with.  It's wild how quickly technology has been changing lately.

The week has generally been good.  Had tea with mom.  Went to Laughing Planet for date night.  D&D Tuesday night went well.  I started playing a cat battling and breeding computer game called Mewgenics.  I can't stop listening to Dungeon Crawler Carl.

My most fun has been prepping for Saturday's Delta Green game.  I ended up making a bunch of book covers for the in-game books, along with a folded bookmark the players can open (for a cost) that describes the consequences of studying the book.  There's something so satisfying handing a physical thing to a player and let them ooh and aah over the details.

Tuesday Work Week Start

February 17, 2026 by Adam in Family

Having the extra day over the weekend was nice, though I don't feel I did anything particularly useful.

Emma came over Friday afternoon and we hung out as usual.  Since Saturday was Valentine's Day, though we don't really celebrate it I made crepes with strawberries and whip cream along with a "Happy Whatever" day card.  It was well received.  Next up was a library trip and since Emma was feeling really worn out and maybe a little sick, I hung out on the couch while she slept with the kitties on top of her.

I'd woken up in the middle of the night with an idea for a game - mixing public domain detectives from the 1920s with Lovecraftian themes set in Miskatonic University.  I whipped up concept art, a bunch of planning documents, and by Sunday morning I told copilot to build the thing.  There's something magical about a web application being created from thin air.  It wasn't quite right for the first pass, but soon enough it had come together and I was able to get into an area, start a dialog, and see the character portraits.

Emma went to the beach with her mom, so I puttered around with the game for most of the day, occasionally doing useful things.  My oldest kid called and the two of us hiked to the top of Spencer's Butte, chatting about his new job and life in general.  We ran into his old Japanese teacher on the way up, which was cool.  Eventually we got to the top where the mist opened up into a sea of clouds with an amazing view.

I'd like to say I accomplished a long list of useful things on Monday, but mostly I puttered, played games, did laundry, ran on the treadmill, and fiddled about.  Not all days have to be powerhouses of accomplishment, I suppose.

Mocha Friday

February 13, 2026 by Adam in Family

It's been a busy but productive week.  I was asked by my director to create a video for her to send to others on the leadership team, so apparently the AI thing I demoed a couple weeks ago was moderately impressive.  I've made a surprising number of videos for my job - I keep running into the house to get my good microphone.

Jo's been sick this week with a cold, and Duncan's a little blah, though I think Yvonne and I are finally back to normal.  The most interesting thing I've done all week is that I ended up creating a ton of AI generated videos for my upcoming D&D game.  There's something magical about watching a character come to life and hopefully it gives a little spark to the campaign.  I worry a little about overdoing it - it's a game, not friends watching an animated D&D movie.

I have another surprise three day weekend coming up.  As usual, I've made a long list of things I want to accomplish.  Some are fun, some are practical, and we'll see how far I get on all my projects.  I'm still listening to the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobooks, so I weirdly have a desire to power wash the patio for hours and see how it ends.

D&D Videos

February 12, 2026 by Adam in Adam's Games

I've been having a good time making little video clips for the various NPCs the players meet in my Dungeons and Dragons game.  I've got still images for them, but it's getting easy enough to make videos with lipsynched voices that I've made a half dozen in the last couple days.  I'm really liking the way they're turning out.

Crafty Weekend

February 09, 2026 by Adam in Family

Since Delta Green was sadly cancelled, I ended up doing various craft projects, though admittedly most were for various roleplaying games.  Emma and I went to MECCA Saturday after breakfast and the library, returning with way too many treasures.  Emma had a major find of over a dozen hand-painted tiles for $1 each - apparently they're worth $20 each, so she cleaned them up and packed them up for future use.  I returned with cool paper, bookmaking supplies, scraps of leather, yarn for Jo, and other assorted cool things.

When we got home Emma and Jo helped me dye a bunch of white leather, and we created a book cover.  I used the cricut to make a stencil for the symbol on the front and after a couple days we had a book prop for an upcoming game.

I also printed the first half of a giant popcorn bucket for the Iron Lung movie.  Apparently one of her coworkers wanted one.  It ended up being immense and I quickly burned through a spool.  The second part isn't going as well, but I'm hoping it's somewhat optional.

I also prepped for the upcoming D&D game, plus put together my usual website/images/movie prep site for a Call of Cthulhu game.  It's like a 1920s Delta Green, but with flappers, gangsters, and archeologist types fighting Lovecraftian horrors.  If I ever have someone cancel I can run that instead.  Otherwise I feel sad not being able to terrorize my family members frequently enough.

Cold Week

February 06, 2026 by Adam in Family

Yvonne and I have both had colds this week - she ended up skipping her day in the Emergency Department as part of her EMT program.  I think she's mostly better now.  I never got too bad, but I've been feeling a little slow and grumpy and mostly want to fiddle around with personal projects and do nothing particularly important.

Sadly Delta Green was cancelled tomorrow, and with Valentine's Day we get to push it out a couple more weeks.  I'm bummed, and think I'll start making some one-shots of something or another if one person can't make it.  The D&D group had a session on Tuesday after a delay and I think they're so excited to play more that we're going again next week to make up for the delay.

As for me, I've been slogging through work, trying to finish up one project and start up another.  When I'm not working, I've been putting together props and notes for the upcoming Delta Green campaign.  I think I'm going to try to make a book for the game, though the bookbinding part is a little tricky.  Theoretically the cricut does leather debossing and I'd love to see if I can pull that off.

We had a meeting with the property management company that will manage the farm rental yesterday.  It went well, though it's clear there's still a long list of things to be done in the next few months.  I'm trying to gird my loins to assist as my older kid steps away from the project - hopefully it works out okay.

No big plans for the weekend.  I might see if Emma and her big brother might go for another wilderness adventure with me.  He's starting a new job doing landscaping next week, though fortunately his hours seem pretty normal.  I'm just excited about things like health insurance that come with it.

Up Before Five

February 02, 2026 by Adam in Family

I woke up at 4:45 this morning - Yvonne was already up and had started making coffee.  It ended up being really strong, so apparently I'm raising her right.  She had her first EMT ride along this morning, so we drove down to the Whit and got her into the locked facility with the ambulances.  Hopefully her day goes well.

I go off call in a couple more hours.  I've got some lingering things I need to deal with, but hopefully I can start transitioning back into normal work.  Last week I was assigned one of those "Gee, I'm glad someone else is doing this" projects.  I think it'll be okay, but it'll take a good chunk of my time over the next few months.

It was a generally good weekend.  Emma and I met up with the oldest son out at a wetland preserve near Fern Ridge Reservoir.  We walked for over three miles in a long loop, looking at birds, chatting about things, and enjoying the relatively warm winter weather.  Emma and I returned home for lunch, library, and hanging out for the rest of the day.

Sunday morning Emma and I headed to thrift stores - I returned with some old books and nice leather writing folders for my Delta Green players.  Emma picked up some overalls and lost one of her glasses screws, fortunately grabbing her lens before it fell out.  She had a spare at home so we stole a screw from the old pair and all was well.

I've mostly been cranking out props and organizing players for the upcoming Delta Green campaign.  I've read the entire 300+ page campaign, listened to handler prep guides, made a bunch of images and props, picked out some music, and generally feel prepared.  The game has the concept of "bonds" - usually friends and family - and there's a mechanic where dealing with the unnatural stresses those relationships.  I've been making postcards, pictures, and the like to make the players feel like these people (and one dog) are important to them.  It's strangely a blast for me to put these things together.

On Call Week

January 30, 2026 by Adam in Family

I've got a mocha waiting next to me, a pleasant reward after a somewhat challenging week of being on call.  I've felt a little better about being on call this week, mostly because I've given up trying to accomplish anything else.

It's been a relatively quiet week.  I had tea with mom on Wednesday, who seems to be recovered from her procedure.  Jo and I finished our Heavenly Bodies video game and started a little on Baldur's Gate 3.  Yvonne has been really into watching The Pitt, which hasn't dissuaded her from her upcoming career.  She's also doing really well in her classes, only one of two people who have passed one of the big certification tests.

I continue to get ready for the Impossible Landscapes campaign, which is one of the more ambitious Delta Green missions I've prepped for.  I've listened to playthroughs, prep videos, and am doing an in-depth read of the 300+ page campaign guide.  Not to mention the AI generated images, props, and weird vibe coded apps.  The players are all rolling up new characters to try something different - I think we'll be ready to wrap up the last mission and kick things off for the new one in another week.

No big weekend plans.  I'm sure Emma and I will make a library run at some point.  For now, with the last sip of my mocha gone, it's time to get back to dealing with alerts and incidents and get some work done.

Monday, Monday

January 26, 2026 by Adam in Family

I'm in the doctor's office with mom, waiting for some results after I put in my hand holding duties for the morning.  I've managed to connect to work and do a few things - I'll probably wait to do complicated things until I get a fast Internet connection again, but I can at least update my blog.

It was a generally good weekend.  Saturday was pancakes and puttering around - it somehow became noon before we were ready to face the day.  Emma and I hit up the library.  Jo spent the day playing with their knew automatic knitting machine, cranking out a variety of hats in no time at all.  

Sunday morning Emma went on a hike with her big brother and then the two of them met up with Seraph and I to hang out at Hideaway Bakery to catch up.  He's looking for work in earnest, hopefully finding something in the arborist or land management field rather than construction.  Emma will likely look for new work in earnest soon too, though she's not really sure what she'll end up doing next.  Eventually we drove Seraph home and chatted with Robbie and Hanni.

Monday, Monday

January 26, 2026 by Adam in Family

I'm in the doctor's office with mom, waiting for some results after I put in my hand holding duties for the morning.  I've managed to connect to work and do a few things - I'll probably wait to do complicated things until I get a fast Internet connection again, but I can at least update my blog.

It was a generally good weekend.  Saturday was pancakes and puttering around - it somehow became noon before we were ready to face the day.  Emma and I hit up the library.  Jo spent the day playing with their knew automatic knitting machine, cranking out a variety of hats in no time at all.  

Sunday morning Emma went on a hike with her big brother and then the two of them met up with Seraph and I to hang out at Hideaway Bakery to catch up.  He's looking for work in earnest, hopefully finding something in the arborist or land management field rather than construction.  Emma will likely look for new work in earnest soon too, though she's not really sure what she'll end up doing next.  Eventually we drove Seraph home and chatted with Robbie and Hanni.